Sunday December 3rd 2006 - House League Tournament #2

(Backfilled in October 2009 due to impending closure of Geocities)

Today Lucy told me early on that she needed to be given the opportunity for a confidence boost. She ran in three races and this is how it went:


- First race: Warm-up consisted solely of one or two recalls which went alright, but as soon as I lined her up for full a run as the last dog in the race line-up, her stress/anxiety/discomfort with the situation became immediately apparent. Right from her first run as I was holding her she was not focused on looking down her lane but rather had her head craned towards the door (classic avoidance behaviour!) so I released her close to the start line where the gates blocked her view of the door. None of her three runs of that first race were clean; she either fumbled the ball and made no attempt to try to pick it up again (very odd), or she didn't run all the way to the box but instead turned around early. I think one mistake I made during this first race was to ask for some tugging before giving her her treats from the tug since tugging is something we've only just started doing in practice. Upon seeing her level of stress I should have relaxed that criteria and rewarded her big-time just for doing the run.

- Second race: Since she had made it clear as ice that she was very uncomfortable with being asked to do full runs today, for her second race of the day I only had her do recalls, as the last dog in the line-up. The first two recalls she refused to take the last jump, instead veering around to the right. For the third one I placed myself directly facing her in front of the last jump and this time she took it. I mega-jackpotted her from her treat tug with very special treats every time to remind her of the big payoff associated with playing flyball.

- Third race: Again being the last dog in the line-up, this time I had her run to the loaded box from only one or two jumps back, running all the way back with her and mega-jackpotting every time. My sense is that she had become more comfortable than when we started the day.


Lessons learned: Looking back on the day, I am reminded of a practice we had last summer outside where I started her with full runs rather than easing her into them by starting from one or two jumps back (August 12th entry). I think recalls may not be the best type of warm-up for her in new, potentially stressful venues, so next time I will be sure to use her warm-up time to do some simple no-ball box turns as well as sending her from just one jump back to boost her confidence. Also, I have a feeling she will be more comfortable at the box once she gets to know our new boxloader. So, it was a more challenging day than the last house league, but it was a real lesson in the importance of reading my dog and understanding and appreciating her needs, and allowing myself to acknowledge different definitions of "success" in different situations. Today, Lucy and I were successful not because she did a gazillion clean full runs (in fact she did none), but because we worked together to improve her confidence level over the course of the day. I look forward to the next house league having gained a better insight into my dog.